Eotary



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

JNO. E. HATHAWAY, OF MILLBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 13,786, dated November 13, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN I-I. HATHAWAY, of Millbury, in the county of lVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and' useful Impro-vements in the Construction of Rotary Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the drawings herewith presented and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

To construct my improved engine I make a steam chamber or cylinder A, Figure 1, (Fig. 3 showing a section of it) with a part cut away, as from C to B; through the center of A put the shaft E, having an arm to which is firmly attached the piston D, fit-ted to play in A and made with packing to iit steam tight, after most any of t-he usual modes of packing, and the head or abutment F the same. This head is attached to the side G, working in the frame H, which is hung on the hubs of A and has a swinging mot-ion governed hy lever I, Figs. 2 and 1, on the shaft E put the cams M and N to move the lever O, hung at Q and having projections p p to move the lever, R, which is extended up around the shaft and has a slot S in which works a stud on lever T to raise and lower the slide G by the pin U. The levers R and T being connected at the bottom to the same shaft have a simultaneous motion, the form of the cams being such as to give (through thelevers mentioned) the mot-ion to the head F and its frame H as to position shown in red ink in Fig. 1, the motion of F being shown by the dotted lines.

V is an opening for connect-ing the steam pipe, the shaft E and chamber A being provided with suitable bearings and supports. The description of the cut off and steam pipe is not thought necessary, as any of the well known devices may be used for that purpose.

The -operation of the engine is as follows: The steam being admitted at V, when the piston D and head F are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the cam M holding t-he head F in place, the piston D is forced away from F, and being cut off at any point desired the expansion of the steam carries D to the position D', when the cam M releases the head F and the cam N assisted by the steam swings the frame H and draws F out of the cylinder A and then immediately raises it in time to allow D to pass it, when the cam M throws it down again and swings it into t-he cylinder ready for another charge of steam, the posit-ion of the frame H and head F when raised being shown in red ink in Fig. 1 and the path of mot-ion of F by the red dot-ted lines, the action of the steam on the head F very much assisting the cam N and relieving it of any sudden shock when running at high velocities. When only one cylinder is to be used I attach a fly wheel to shaft E as in other engines, but using two or more there is no need of any. It will be seen that this admits of using steam of any pressure and also to use its expansive power to the lowest practicable point and then uses it to assist in removing the head F, thereby very much decreasing the friction and consequently the wear and tear. This construction and operation shows my invention when running one way, and in cases where it is desirable to run either way the principles and operation are the same, merely having another steam pipe at Vl and putting another head similar to F on the opposite side of the slide Gr and having cams and levers to give it a similar motion so arranged as to be thrown into operation on throwing the others out and to shut oft' the steam at V, admitting it at V, where it act-s on the op,- posite side of D but equally as effective and simple. The cylinder end being made with a circular aperture as seen in Fig. 3, which .is a section through its center and the shaft E, admits of packing the piston and heads with facility and ease, at the same time exposing the least surface to create friction.

I do not claim the use of a circular or nearly so aperture in A when the head or abutments are moved in other ways; nor the precise form or arrangements of the part-s described; but

Vhat I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- I claim moving the head F by means of a radial arm having its center of motion corresponding to the center of the shaft, so as to withdraw the head from the cylinder before elevating it, in the manner and for the purposes above set forth or any other substantially the same.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my. hand this 22d day of June A. D. 1855.

JOI-IN I-I. HATHAWAY.

In presence of- THos. H. WITHERBY, JAS. G. ARNOLD. 

